Caleb Plant believes undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez isn’t the same fighter he was four years ago when he knocked him out in the 11th round in 2021. Plant (23-2, 14 KOs) believes he’ll beat Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) if they fight now, and he’s hoping to earn a rematch by defeating Jose Armando Resendiz on May 31st and then Jermall Charlo.
Alvarez’s fight against Terence Crawford in September may turn sour. He’s got to win that fight to keep his career going. Canelo’s last three fights have shown signs of slippage, struggling against William Scull, Edgar Berlanga, and Jaime Munguia.
Plant Sees His Chance
The lackluster performance Canelo turned in against IBF champion Scull last Saturday night in Riyadh was particularly worrisome. Canelo threw only 152 punches in the 12-round fight, landing 56 for a 36.8% connect rate. To throw those few punches in an entire fight showed that Alvarez is starting to lose it.
Plant has problems of his own that he must worry about with his fight against Resendiz (15-2, 11 KOs) this month at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. Resendiz, 26, is young and can punch. He might be able to take advantage of Plant’s age and ringwear because he was hurt and dropped in his last fight by Trevor McCumby last September.
“I don’t think it’s the same Canelo. Not quite, but I kind of figured it was going to be like that,” said Caleb Plant to the media when asked if the Canelo Alvarez he saw last Saturday against William Scull was the same one that fought him in 2021. The question is whether Alvarez has declined physically in the last four years.
Plant is being kind by saying “Not quite,” and you wonder if he was being careful with his wording so he wouldn’t upset Canelo. It’s not a good idea to get on Alvarez’s bad side because he tends to ignore fighters who trash-talk him behind his back.
“I heard him say in an interview, ‘I don’t really like fighting guys that move around that much.’ William Scull being a Cuban fighter, I knew he was going to do that,” said Plant. “I was curious to see how Canelo would handle that. He cut off the ring well, but I felt that guy didn’t really want no part.”
Canelo didn’t do his part to make the fight with Scull easier by attacking aggressively and throwing punches. He got countered a number of times by Scull, and that took away much of his aggressiveness.
“It makes for not as appetizing a fight, but he still has got the fight in September,” said Plant about Canelo’s clash against Crawford. “So, we’ll see. I believe so, yeah,” said Caleb when asked if Canelo getting older makes him believe he has a better chance of beating him now. “As soon as we fought, the next day, I was like, ‘If we fight again, I’m going to beat him,’” said Plant about his fight against Canelo in 2021.
The way Plant looked in that fight, there were no adjustments he could have made to defeat Canelo in a rematch. His only chance of beating Canelo is if he developed some Superman punching power, which is never going to happen.
Rematch Ambitions
“That’s how I feel. I feel like with a few minor adjustments, I get the job done,” said Plant about what he felt he needed to defeat Canelo in a rematch. “It’s a stylistic matchup, and William Scull doesn’t fight anything like Terence Crawford. So, we’re not going to see the same type of fight in September. I think we’re going to see a great fight.”
It might not be a great fight if Crawford chooses to box and move like his trainer is talking about wanting him to do. He’s been out for a year and looked bad in his last fight against Israil Madrimov.
“All the top super middleweights are on my radar. I want to fight the best,” said Plant when asked if he would be targeting Crawford if he defeats Canelo to capture the undisputed super middleweight championship. “You may say, ‘There are weight classes for a reason,’ but Crawford is a special guy. I’m a fan on that one.”
Last Updated on 05/07/2025
